Wild winds with gusts topping 65mph (10kph) blew from the Great Lakes to the East Coast on Thursday, knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of customers, disrupting travel and killing at least five people.

The high winds, attributed to a strong low pressure system, which started Wednesday night and moved east overnight, kicking up gravel and sand from construction sites and hurling garbage cans on to busy New York City streets on Thursday.

"I got more sand in my eyes than at a beach, and I almost got blown over backwards," said electrician Michael Lazzaro, who ducked into a bar on his way home from work in New York.

downed power lines

Utilities such as Jersey Central Power & Light in New Jersey reported downed power lines from wind-snapped trees. About 250,000 customers remained without power Thursday in Pennsylvania, and 140,000 more in Ohio. There were also about 109,000 outages in West Virginia, nearly 31,000 in New Jersey and 14,900 in Michigan.

"This is one of the largest power outages we've seen in many years," said Jimmy Gianato, West Virginia's director of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. At one point, 220,000 customers were without power. At least six state parks also had no electricity.

Utilities in Ohio and West Virginia said electricity wouldn't be restored to some residents until the weekend or later.

women killed

In New Jersey, a 61-year-old motorist was killed early Thursday in Union County when a tree snapped, crashing through her car's windshield and impaling the woman. A woman in Newark died of massive head injuries after a tree branch fell and struck her Thursday afternoon.

Wind also was believed to be a factor in the Thursday death of a 59-year-old New York City construction worker who was killed when a wall collapsed, officials said.

A woman in West Virginia and a truck driver in Ohio also were killed in weather-related deaths Wednesday night when gusts topping 70mph (112kph) in Indiana and Ohio were reported as the system moved through.

Gusts disrupted the morning rail commute in the New York City area. Four people were hurt, apparently by flying glass, when the wind blew a crossing gate into a Long Island Rail Road train.

Firefighters look over the wreckage of Continental flight 3407 which lies amid smoke at the scene after crashing into a suburban Buffalo home and erupting into flames late Thursday, killing all 48 people aboard and at least one person on the ground, according to authorities. The 74-seat Q400 B****ardier aircraft, operated by Colgan Air, was flying from Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey to Buffalo Niagara International Airport.

Family members leave the Buffalo Niagara Airport on Thursday after Continental Airlines Flight 3407 crashed into a home in Clarence Center, NY. The commuter plane "basically dove" into a house while coming in for a landing, sparking a fiery explosion that killed all 48 people on-board and one person on the ground, an emergency official said yesterday.